Cannabis

For 50 years, the Netherlands has famously adopted a relaxed attitude to cannabis. Across the country, coffeeshops have allowed people to buy and consume cannabis in a relaxed and safe environment. What many people outside the country don’t realise is that cannabis has never strictly been legal across the country. Thanks to Gedoogbeleid – a policy of tolerance towards ‘soft’ drug – cannabis has been accepted, but behind each coffeeshop hid a contradiction; importing, cultivating and selling cannabis wholesale remained illegal. Coffeeshops have thrived thanks to a ‘back door’ system, where they were allowed to buy from criminals operating in the shadows while the police looked the other way. Once the cannabis had entered the shop via the back door, it no longer concerned the law. This strange status quo has been called “hypocritical” by Paul Depla, mayor of Breda, one of the 10 cities taking part in the wietexperiment which sees the entire supply chain legalised from seed to shelf. Out of the shadows The new system is a far cry from the limbo that propped up coffeeshops to date. Every cannabis plant grown by one of the ten certified cultivators receives a unique code, tracking it from germination to the moment it's sold over a coffeeshop counter. At Hollandse Hoogtes, one of the ten licensed growers operating in Gelderland, director Rick Bakker oversees a facility that resembles a pharmaceutical facility more than a clandestine backroom grow. Each plant is monitored, each harvest is dated and tested, and every gram is accounted for. When his cannabis arrives at a participating coffeeshop, it comes with a raft of data attached. "All our products are sold sealed," Bakker says. "On the label are the harvest date, the THC content, the plant species. Coffeeshops know for the first time exactly what they're buying." Under Gedoogbeleid, shop owners had no idea if their supply contained heavy metals, pesticides, or moulds. Unregulated producers had no incentive to check for contaminants. Instead, they relied on trust, reputation, and luck. Now, cannabis undergoes rigorous testing that ensures quality and safety standards are met. But this transformation comes with trade-offs. The ten growers licensed to take part in the experiment are operating within a controlled oligopoly. Certification requires significant capital investment, meeting strict security specifications (fencing, restricted access, surveillance), and demonstrating agricultural expertise. It's closer to pharmaceutical manufacturing than craft cultivation. Some worry this creates a corporate cannabis model that squeezes out smaller, independent operators that made the Dutch cannabis scene famous across the world. Teething problems The experiment hasn’t lacked problems. In the early days, demand for certain coffeeshop staples such as Super Silver Haze and Amnesia outstripped what the licensed growers could supply. Coffeeshops, accustomed to diverse menus based on a wide underground supply network, complained they only had limited options under the new regime. "In the beginning, we had to get used to each other," Bakker says. Now, a year in, variety has expanded. The ten growers can offer enough diversity in flower for shops to “be distinctive”, according to Simone van Breda, chair of the Association of Cannabis Retailers. But one product remains stubbornly problematic: hash. Bazkittle Dry sift hash by @Fytagroup, 1 of the 10 licensed producers in the Dutch cannabis experiment. Consumers & coffeeshop owners are generally happy with the quality of the weed, but less so with the hash quality. From April 7, only regulated cannabis is allowed. #wietproef pic.twitter.com/TH9vP8Hy0n — VOC Nederland (@vocnederland) March 30, 2025 Legal Dutch hash tastes different compared to the Moroccan hash that's wound its way across Europe and through the back door for decades. It's also more expensive, despite being produced domestically. Production methods and costs differ from those of the traditional has producing regions of Morocco. The strains providing the trichomes are different from those grown outdoors in North Africa, and the Dutch industry lacks generations of experience or the economies of scale found in vast fields of landrace strains. "In the beginning there was a lot of resistance," van Breda says. "By now, the majority of customers have made the switch." But 'majority' isn't 'all', and the hash holdouts represent a challenge. Can regulated cannabis ever compete on every front with an illegal market that's had decades to perfect its product? Pricing, too, remains a sticking point. Much of the legal cannabis costs more than its backdoor predecessor. Compliance costs, taxation, and startup inefficiencies drive prices up. It’s a complaint that often plays out in the medical vs recreation market here in the UK. Higher overheads and more regulation make it hard for UK medical producers to match the price and quality that underground growers can deliver when devoid of tax, staff overheads, and expensive licences. One thing the experiment has shown is that the system works. Sales haven't dropped in participating coffeeshops. The feared exodus of customers to illegal dealers hasn't materialised. Breda's Mayor Depla confidently declared that "the customer hasn't walked away. Sales in the shops haven't decreased. And we aren't seeing any street dealing emerging either." No turning back Officially, the wietexperiment runs until the end of 2029. “Politicians view this as an experiment with a beginning and an end,” researcher Nicole Maalsté, a specialist in the cannabis sector, tells Trouw. “In a few years, they will evaluate and then decide whether to continue. That is the reality.” While the politicians use the language of careful policy-making, of evidence-based decision-making, of political prudence, the reality is different. "In practice, you can't actually go back," Maalsté warns. “A far-reaching process of change has been set in motion.” Should lawmakers try to wind up the experiment, coffeeshops will have to return to backdoor supply. But many of these suppliers have moved on, networks have dissolved, and relationships ended. Those ten certified growers have invested millions in facilities, security systems, and staff. Hollandse Hoogtes expands its Bemmel operation. The reversal could trigger legal challenges worth millions. Then there are the customers. After four years of buying sealed, tested, labelled products with known THC percentages and harvest dates, they would return to mystery cannabis of unknown provenance from unknown sources. If legal supply chains collapse, coffeeshops that took part in the trial in good faith may not survive, forcing punters back to even shadier street dealers. After decades of leading with a liberal approach to weed, the great Dutch cannabis experiment is already a success. As Breda mayor Depla says, waiting for the experiment to end in 2029 to make a decision would be a mistake. "If we want to get rid of the hypocritical tolerance policy throughout the Netherlands in four years, we must act quickly."